Plutocratic Study: No Riches For Workplace Bitches

This is the gist of a new report, shockingly not written by Donald Trump, but commissioned by a billionaire every bit as misogynistic as Donald Trump.  

Market based, pseudo-sociological analyses are how women get denied a raise in the age of political correctness. It is just the kind of "research" that neoliberal politicians and pundits will use to justify the status quo of women's 75 or 80 cents to the male employee's dollar. This kind of shlock is just another way of blaming female hormones for women's failure to thrive at work:

 The research shows that when women are equally as aggressive as men in workplace communication, their perceived deserved compensation drops twice as much as men’s—by up to $15,088 a year—and their perceived competency plunges by 35 percent.

Two hacks-for-hire with business degrees (Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield) purport to have either personally or remotely studied 11,000 women in office settings through a psy-ops outfit they call VitalSmarts. It is an offshoot of TwentyEighty Inc, which is an offshoot of Providence Equity, property of billionaire vulture capitalist Jonathan M. Nelson. He apparently is not an attention-seeking narcissist like Trump, preferring to hide his sexism in a Russian doll-type nest of subsidiaries. 

In a world of high-profile media moguls, Jonathan Nelson has made a fortune buying and selling media and telecom properties without hardly anyone noticing. He founded private equity firm Providence Equity Partners in 1989 to invest in communications companies. Today, Providence manages $40 billion in assets and holds stakes in Hispanic TV provider Univision and education Web platform Blackboard. Past investments include YES Network, Warner Music Group and Hulu. In January 2014 Nelson sold his firm's 25% stake in AutoTrader to Cox Enterprises for $1.8 billion, triple what he originally paid for it. A Rhode Island native, Nelson studied economics at Brown and got his MBA at Harvard. He serves on Brown's board and helped fund the school's $45 million fitness center, which bears his name.

Unlike Donald Trump, he subcontracts out the concern-trolling misogyny to his minions. Like Donald Trump, he gives copiously to politicians in both establishment parties. He gave to both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in 2008, then switched his allegiance to Mitch "Binders Full of Women" Romney in 2012. Like any plutocrat worth his salt, he hedges his bets and knows who to call when he needs something. 

If women don't get paid or promoted as much as men, say Nelson's paid authors of the white (guys) paper, they also have themselves to blame. If you are a victim of workplace gender bias, that's just terrible. They really feel your pain. But, while you're waiting for the culture to evolve (and rather than sue your boss or co-workers for discrimination or harassment) they suggest that you change your behavior, and for that matter, your whole personality. Become more obsequious. Shrink, and grow rich:

“Speaking up in forceful, assertive ways is especially risky for women,” said Grenny, coauthor of the New York Times bestseller Crucial Conversations. “An emotion-inequality effect punishes women more than men. Women are burdened with the assumption that they will conform to cultural stereotypes that typecast women as caring and nurturing. Speaking forcefully violates these cultural norms, and women are judged more harshly than men for the same degree of assertiveness.”
Grenny said that emotional inequality is real and it is unfair. And while it is unacceptable and needs to be addressed at a cultural, legal, organizational, and social level, individuals can take control.

 Notice how pay inequality is no longer the issue. Emotional inequality is the issue.

It takes an innovative neoliberal mind to not only invent a social problem brand called Emotional Inequality, but then to capitalize on it by both diagnosing and treating the alleged sufferers. Not to to worry, ladies. They will give you a script, and if you follow it faithfully, you can squelch your bitchiness and morph right into Richie Richiness! It's all in the "framing": 

As explained in the white paper, by framing the assertive statement with what the authors term a “behavior phrase,” a “value phrase,” or an “inoculation phrase,” the negative perception was significantly reduced. These phrases include:

• “I’m going to express my opinion very directly; I’ll be as specific as possible.” (behavior phrase)
• “I see this as a matter of honesty and integrity, so it’s important for me to be clear about where I stand.” (value phrase)
• “I know it’s a risk for a woman to speak this assertively, but I’m going to express my opinion very directly.” (inoculation phrase)

The white paper explains how and why such framing phrases work so effectively.

Now, I am going to go out on a dangerous limb here, and don't take this the wrong way, guys, but what if Megyn Kelly had used these groveling techniques when questioning Donald Trump the other night? I bet you wouldn't see the continuous flood of bile coming out his mouth or wherever, if she had only politely asked, "I see this as a matter of honesty and integrity, but please allow me to humbly remind you, Mr Donald Sir, that you have called women you don’t like fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals."

On second thought, that is probably a terrible example. Megyn Kelly is not your average female wage slave. She is not spied upon without her knowledge by researchers with remote video cameras. She gets paid well to be in Roger Ailes's Fox News stable of blond bombshells. She gets paid very well to play the part of provocatresse with a whip .She is an extremely well-remunerated actress in the Neoliberal Theater of Sadism. She's a ratings magnet with a functioning brain. 

Although she self-identifies as a crusading journalist, she is more inquisitorial Judge Judy than muckraking crusader Ida Tarbell.

She operates from the right wing Fox studio to provide scripted vicarious relief to all those oppressed, underpaid, overworked, moody and unappreciated female worker bees out there, while at the same time titillating millions of male masochists. The plutocratic white paper advising  women to bottle it all up and act nice to assholes was never directed at her. Megyn Kelly will probably get a bonus from her bosses after her bravura performance. She will get richer, right along with The Donald.

Emotional Inequality is for the little people. It's just the latest fake ailment peddled by the permanent ruling class to make you feel bad about yourself. It is meant to make it seem like the overlords care about you while they control you and deflect your attention from their own bloated wealth, greed and stinginess. 

Rather than confront your bully, you are trained to coddle your bully. You are advised to be sensitive to your bully's trigger points and play the part of the proper servant.

Oligarchs like Jonathan M. Nelson will always find new ways to gaslight and cash in on the Precariat. First, they pathologize you. Then, they blame you. Then, they promise you a cure. Then, you pay.

Lather, rinse, repeat. 

Unless, with all due respect of course, you refuse to get with their cruel program.